Better Late Than Never
by Caramia S. Cesiyess
Summary: A practical joke leads to something so much better. Heero and Relena.


Heero pulled up to the small all-night cafe. From the comfortable interior of his car he studied the archaic molding of the small restaurant. It was supposed to be from an era many centuries ago. Personally, Heero enjoyed reading about the long ago 1950's and playing the old music on his laptop. His roommates never suspected it, and he supposed he would never hear the end of it if they found out.  
But the poor, deteriorating façade of the place was not the pilot's main concern right now. A phone call, an hour ago had alerted him that his presence was required at his current position. And though the caller had put on the guise of an important Preventer officer, Heero knew immediately it was only Duo. After reprimanding the American pilot for using his secured line for his merriment, he, reluctantly, agreed to meet him. Besides...Heero had wanted to test-drive the new convertible he had bought for himself.  
It was the Wing 0 but it would have to do.  
He reached in the back seat for the umbrella that he always kept around. It was raining heavily this year and Heero desperately wanted to return to the stability of the Colonies. But the Preventers were continually hiring more and more incompetent youths to perform the job of keeping the peace, and keeping conspiracies away from the public eye. And the more they hired the more the press found out about internal affairs. It was horrible to go to work in the mornings.   
As he opened the drivers' side door he popped open the gray umbrella and stood for a moment just listening to the plop-plop of raindrops falling on the vinyl. He pulled on his gloves, leaving no trace of skin exposed to the cold wind blowing. Then, taking out a small black key chain, he pressed a few numbers, and pointed at the car and pressed the small red button with his thumb.  
He walked to the front door, enjoying the lack of people in the usually busy sidewalks of the city.  
The small door chimes greeted him as he walked into the nearly deserted café. A man, early twenties stood at the bar. There were some girls, wearing roller skates serving two or three families at different table. In the back corner he spotted who he was looking for.  
"Heero!" the blue-eyed, braded pilot of Deathsythe shouted. Heero took a seat on the faded red booth. The umbrella lay at his feet, letting a small puddle fall on the floor.  
"So, what's so important you have to drag me out here."  
Duo smiled, used to the frankness by now, "I'm great. Thanks for asking." He looked at his friend sitting with his arms crossed and staring blankly at him.  
Duo winked and looked out the window. Visibility was down due to the sheen of raindrops sliding down the pane of glass. Other then that it was dark with very few cars passing by on the road outside. A few neon lights reflected off of the wet pavements. The young pilot pointed across the street.  
"Who do you think that is?"  
He pointed to a girl standing, alone, in front of an old theater. She was tall, with a nice, but not too elegant dress on. It reached just above her knees, revealing a little too much leg for the cold, rainy weather. She was wringing her hands and fidgeting, surely to try and keep the cold off.  
Her hair was done in a sort of bun with tendrils hanging down. But they were hanging, limp and clinging to her skin, flat from all the rain that was pouring down on her unsheltered head.   
Heero squinted but couldn't see her face.  
"I can't see..."  
Duo held up a hand, "Just wait for a car to come by."  
In less then two seconds a car did just that. For a moment the headlights lit up the young face. Familiar, deep, turquoise, eyes squinted into the light.  
Heero was a bit surprised by the young former diplomat standing out there.  
"What's Relena doing?" he wondered out loud.  
Duo laughed, "That's the best part," he leaned in closer to Heero, "You see, I sent a message to Miss. Peacecraft, telling her that I would meet her in front of that theater tonight. And here's the catch: I signed it..." he took a breath, adding just a dash of suspense, " H. Yuy."  
Heero glared at his companion, obviously not amused. But the affect of the death glare was starting to wear off after years of peace. It could make Duo shut up, but not for as long as it used to.  
"I'm not going out on a date with her."  
"Who said you were?" Duo chuckled to himself. "The message said to be at that theatre at Five O'clock. Tonight."  
Heero's eyes widened, ever so slightly. He leaned back into the comfortable booth and looked out again at the solitary figure in the rain.  
"It's already Ten O'clock now."  
Now Duo started snorting, this got him a strange looks from all around the café. "I know!" He slapped his hand on the table, "you think once the rain started she would go home...but no!" he laughed and wiped a tear from his eye.  
"Oh, goodness, that's the best practical joke I've played in a long time. Even better then the time I managed to get you in the shower on film..."  
Heero cleared his throat, and kept his eyes on Duo's face, though a small trace of red appeared on his cheeks.  
"So...this was some sort of joke? Why Relena?"  
Duo took a deep breath.  
"Isn't it, "he gasped for air between words and giggles, "isn't it obvious? She's so uptight over her work and all, she never gets a chance to relax and watch the rain fall!" He clutched his stomach and rubbed at the contracted muscles. Duo was laughing at the peak volume and was starting to scare people out of the restaurant.  
Heero nodded, watching his "friend" calmly, "Yeah...good job Duo." He shook his head, " making the ex-queen of the world wait in the rain for five hours. Does Miliardo know about this?"  
"It's not like I held a gun to her head! That's what you usually do!" He let out a long howl and laughed even harder.  
Heero suddenly stood up and glared down at him.  
"As one of her body guards you should be trying to keep her out of scenarios like this." He grabbed his umbrella and stormed to the door while Duo kept on laughing.  
  
She ran a hand through her hair, attempting to remove some of the water but only succeeding in tangling it more. It had been raining for almost an hour now. The cold was seeping through her dress, attacking her bare legs.  
So...why didn't she just go home?  
It wasn't because she had any hope that Heero would arrive: she knew in the first twenty minutes he wouldn't arrive. He was either there or he wasn't. So she certainly wasn't standing there for sentimental reasons. Well...for the most part she wasn't standing there for sentimental reasons.  
It wasn't because she couldn't. She wasn't a complete idiot: her guards were parked in a car a block away.  
The only reason she wasn't lying in her bedroom right now was because she had picked up something over the years from politics and living with her brother: Pride.  
Relena had made such a big deal about this date tonight. Noin tried to tell her it wasn't a good idea, and Miliardo had yelled at her about being the same sixteen-year-old girl. He would use any excuse to jump on her for her feelings for Heero. It made it hard to live with that man. She couldn't go back and let them know they were right. They would never let her escape from it, well, Noin might, but Miliardo would use it against her.  
So as of this moment as the rain poured down over her head, and strangers with crooked smiles looked her up and down, she had no clue when she could go home.   
It was even harder to stand in the freezing rain, being mentally stripped down by strange men, and realize that your brother was completely right.  
Relena sighed and turned her attention to the sidewalk by her feet. Right now she hated that tiny ache in heart that made her stay out here waiting for him.  
Another car passed by, splashing her legs with more water, but still she stood there in her introspective stupor. Another group of men, boys really, walked by, eyeing her and nudging each other.  
Her hair was a mess, the curls had flattened and stuck to her neck. The rain had drenched her white dress, now her bra was showing and she crossed her arms across her chest.  
But since her resigning from politics a few months back she wasn't so worried about anyone making a big story out of this...embarrassment. If she were still the Vice Foreign Minister free time would have been a dream. Now she only worked behind the scenes to maintain peace. There were only very few threats on her life, and she actually preferred it that way.  
Relena really didn't notice the car park to her right. She just stared down, finding the sidewalk suddenly so amusing to watch. But when the rain suddenly stopped falling on her head she looked up to check the sky. But instead she saw the interior of a red umbrella. The hand holding the umbrella was attached to a very muscular arm. And the face...  
"Heero."  
He didn't look at her.  
"Let's get you out of here."  
She nodded and followed as he led her to his car and opened the door for her. She couldn't help but stare at his face. And she wanted to resist him, question him, yell at him, but she was so confused by the look in his eyes.  
He slammed her door and got in on the driver's side. Heero started the engine with a flick of his wrist. The engine came to life, and hey drove off down the road.  
Once the heat was on at full power it stung her hands. The sudden mixture of numbing cold and intense heat made her skin burn unpleasantly. While still holding the steering wheel with one hand he used his other to place her trembling hands on the heater. All the while his eyes stayed trained on the road.  
"Why did you do something so stupid."  
It was her turn to be the silent one for once. She turned her head to look at the passing buildings.  
"I despise repeating myself."  
"And I just love standing out in the rain."  
"You could have gone home anytime."  
"Not really."  
"Give me one good reason why not. You had those men not fifty feet from you. I'm sure they wanted to leave."  
"You wouldn't understand."  
"Why's that?"  
Before she could even really think she blurted out: " Because you don't feel anything." She regretted them as soon as she said it.  
He winced slightly. Politics had certainly given her a wicked tongue. Suddenly he jerked the wheel to the right, speeding up just a bit then slamming his foot down on the break. His soaked passenger wrenched forward. Heero parked the car, inches away from a guardrail. A guardrail that was inches away from a cliff. He turned to her.  
"Relena, I had no intention of meeting you tonight." She glared at him. It was like him to be so brutally honest, "I didn't even know you were there. Duo sent the message. It was supposed to be a joke."  
She moved her gaze away from his harsh, cobalt blue eyes, and looked past him. Those five hours had just been a joke. A way for Duo to get a good laugh out of her. Knowing him he probably had set up a camera and was watching the feed from a nice, warm place. Shutting her eyes very tight she turned her head to look out of her window.  
Heero just watched her out of the corners of his eyes. This sensitive woman was the same one he watched on television and had given great speeches in front of thousands. She looked like any body now. A very beautiful anybody even with her hair ruined and makeup smudged.  
"I see... Duo must have had a good laugh over it. Watching me...just standing out there." She slapped her forehead, "I'm so gullible!" The tickle at the back of her eyes forced her to blink rapidly. He had already come and picked her up in that most embarrassing situation, she couldn't let him see her cry too. When she felt that she could speak without choking, Relena took a deep breath, "Please, just take me back to the my guards."  
"Why should I do that?" he started the car up again, "This car works just fine."  
Relena wrapped her arms around herself. "Please...I can't be around anyone right now. Especially..."  
"Especially me."  
"I want to be alone."  
"That's the worse place to be." He pushed on the gas and the car moved forward. "You're soaking wet, freezing cold...in a few hours that will turn into sickness. My house is right up here."  
Her eyes widened and she shook her head furiously. "No. Pagan will worry."  
"No." he glared at her through the corner of his eyes again. "Pagan was worried. I told your security men to let him know that you were going to be with me."  
"I'm sure that must really comfort him." She frowned.  
The driver just reached with one hand into the back seat, eyes ever attentive to the road ahead, and grabbed his leather jacket. "Here," he handed it to her, " This can cover your legs."  
She took it, letting her fingertips touch his for a second and covered herself. "Thank you."  
He nodded and turned onto a street. A small apartment complex was hidden among many evergreen trees. They weren't very far from the city, but as the complex was on a hill she could see all the lights in the blackness of the night.  
"This is where you live?"  
"For the month." He got out of the car and opened the door for her as he held the umbrella. She graciously took the hand he offered, but avoided his eyes. The two walked down a garden path to the front entrance.  
The inside was very plain. A gray couch, a wooden table and a lamp. There were closed doors leading to other rooms on two walls, on the other was an open archway that lead most likely to a kitchen.  
Relena heard humming coming from there. 'He's living with someone?'  
"You can sit on the couch." Heero let go of her arm and walked through the archway. She sat down on the couch and regretted leaving the jacket behind.  
She heard a few murmurs and then a "Who?" Quatre soon appeared before her.  
"Relena!" it was him who had been humming, "You're soaked! What happened?" she blushed a bit as she remembered her dress had become somewhat see through.  
"I, uh..."  
Trowa came out and took a quick look at her.  
"Quatre, we should give her some new clothes before she freezes to death." Quatre blushed a bit.  
"Oh, yeah." He pointed to the door behind him, "You can wear some of my pajamas while you stay here. They're laying right on the first bed."  
Relena stood and bowed, "Thank you so much for your kindness."  
"Don't worry about that." Trowa's voice was soft, "We've all been victims to Duo's terrible sense of humor."  
Again she bowed and went to the room and changed into the soft, blue pajamas.  
  
  
At 12 o'clock Relena was sound asleep on Heero's bed. He had opted for sleeping on the couch. Mostly just to be the first one to get to Duo when he got home.  
The door to the room creaked open.  
"Ohhh! "Duo's voice whispered as he stubbed his toe on something. All the room was spinning and his legs wobbled. 'Damn, I only had 10 or 12 shots...'  
He managed to find a bed and fell asleep as soon as his body hit the mattress.  
But Relena didn't feel it when he fell into the same bad as her, but she did feel his arm. One of her eyes peered down at the arm that was hugging her around the waist. He managed to grab part of her pajama top and flip her over so she was facing him.  
Duo now had a secure hold on her. She tried to struggle out of his slumbering grasp, but he was too strong; even in sleep.  
"Duo, "she whispered, and patted his cheek.  
"Ugh..."  
She slapped him a bit harder.  
"Duo! Wake up! "She hissed.  
"Heero...shut up, I need sleep." He blindly picked up a pillow and threw it across the room. She tried to get away but his hand was around her within seconds.  
Seeing how this route wasn't working she brought back her foot and kicked him in the shin.  
His eyes shot open and he pinned her down, in one cat-like motion.  
"What do you think your---Relena??"  
Relena starred up at him. She could hardly move as he was pinning her arms and legs.  
"What are you doing here?"  
She glared up at him and tried to move her body, "Get off."  
He smiled mischievously. "Not until you tell me what you're doing here." He breath stank of vodka.  
She opened her lips to scream but he clasped his hand over her mouth and held her two wrists together with his one hand.  
"Don't do that Miss. Peacecraft. Just tell me why you're in Heero's bed?"  
He could feel her trying to bite him and he shoved his thumb into her jaw.  
"I could ask you the same thing." Said a familiar, Chinese voice.  
The lights turned on overhead.  
Heero, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei stared at him from the doorway.  
Quatre looked at him wild-eyed while the others just glared.  
'What are you doing to Relena?"  
Duo was quick to get off of her. "It's not what it looked like!" he wobbled when he stood up. Heero moved towards him and Quatre and Trowa moved over to the shaking Relena.  
Heero sniffed at him, "You're drunk."  
Duo rubbed the back of his neck. "It could have happened to anyone."  
Heero shook his head. Then he turned to Relena. "Are you all right?" She nodded her head as she rubbed her wrists. Duo just rolled his eyes.  
"Its' not like I was going to rape her or anything!"  
Relena slowly stood up and approached Duo.  
"I hope you enjoy, cold, dark placed where your neighbors live miles away in trenches filled with twenty feet of snow. Where there is no one to find jokes funny because even you'll be too busy freezing your ass off. Sound like a nice place? Well that's where I'm suggesting Miliardo ship you off to for the next few years." She leaned in closer to him, "And believe me...I can make it happen soooo easily...." Relena backed away from him, "I'd hurry up and get all your long-johns backed up, Eskimo-boy." With that she stormed passed the Gundam pilots and out of the room.  
He stood motionless for a moment. Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei left the room.  
Heero turned to leave, the looked over his shoulder. "I think she's even with you now."  
Duo slapped his head and fell to the bed.  
  
  
Relena drove her car out over the road she had just driven on a few nights ago. She spotted her destination and parked. The several cars filled with her guard detail followed her, but kept a reasonable distance.  
She got out and pulled her coat on. Relena stood and looked out over the cliff. The sun was setting, casting the ocean on fire. She could hear the waves splatter on the rocks below.  
The incident of a few days ago was already beginning to fade.  
She turned and smiled when she heard footsteps behind her.  
"Heero. It's good to see you...even with twenty men on looking..." she motioned with her hand at the cars parked on the other side of the road.  
He nodded and held out a small box to her. "It's for you."  
She took the small box and opened it. Inside was a diamond pendant shaped as a raindrop. Relena took it out and unclasped it.  
"Oh...Duo shouldn't have...I was only saying that in anger..." she smiled and tried putting it on, "He surely can't afford this after all the other forgiveness cards, flowers and candies he's sent."  
Heero stopped her and took the necklace. He tossed her hair over one shoulder and put it on.  
"Duo didn't. It's from me."  
She turned and stared at him, "What is this for?"  
He looked out over the ocean, "For not noticing when Duo came home. For putting you in that type of situation. For times I've threatened you, put you in danger..." he continued, not looking at her.  
She smiled more and laid a manicured hand on his arm. When he didn't respond to that she touched his cheek and turned her head to look at her.  
'Heero...if you only knew that you've been forgiven for those things for such a long time.' "Don't worry about that. Al right?"  
He looked down into her eyes.  
"I can't stay here long." He whispered.  
"Do you have a mission?" she asked.  
He shook his head and looked dead serious. "If I stay with you now, I'll never be able to leave."  
Relena blushed slightly, and moved closer to him, "Does that bother you?"  
He leaned down to her a bit, "No."  
"Then stay..." her voice was just barely a whisper. He continued to search her eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist.  
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner to you...on that rainy night...for all these years." She shook her head, keeping her eyes on his. Their lips were mere inches apart.  
"Better late then never."  
They kissed and held on to each other as long as possible. 


End file.
